What does the cork collection mean? What is a cork fee in a restaurant?

If you ever ordered a banquet in a restaurant (for example, a wedding or for another grand celebration), then you might encounter such a thing as a "cork board". The proposed article will tell you what it is, where it came from and what to do with this phenomenon.

Meaning and origin

In English, this fee is called corkage fee. It means a payment for uncorking and giving a bottle of wine to the table , which the restaurant visitor brought with him. This practice is widespread among people with high incomes who have a home wine cellar and from time to time feel the desire to have dinner outside the house, washing down professionally prepared food with your favorite drink. It can be done very culturally: for you, the bottle is shaken to shine, uncorked and fed to the table, and then includes a fee for such maintenance in your account. That's what the cork collection means. This fee can vary in different restaurants ranging from 15 to 85 dollars.

And now we will consider the peculiarities of this restaurant policy on the example of different countries and individual institutions.

In Europe and the USA

Abroad is considered a good way to observe several rules if you bring your own wine. First, you need to call in advance in the restaurant and warn about your desire. This is usually done simultaneously with the order of the table. At the same time, you can clarify what kind of cork collection system is used in this institution: what it will include and how much it will cost.

In some restaurants, the fee for one open bottle is equal to the cost of the cheapest drink presented in the wine list. In other places it is higher, but you can count on a discount if you buy more and local alcohol in addition to what was brought with you. In particularly pathos restaurants, the size of the corkage fee depends on the wine brand: the more elite, the more expensive.

Absolutely bad taste is the purchase of cheap wine in order to drink it in a restaurant. On such things do not save, especially if they want to visit this institution again in the future.

At popular resorts

Now we will find out whether there is a cork in the restaurants of Turkey, Egypt and other favorite tourist places. Judging by the opinions of visitors to restaurants and bars located at hotels, this system is not available in the resorts. Tourists bring their drinks: champagne, wine, whiskey, etc. You can safely drink a bottle to one or in someone's company. Waiters do not include additional fees in your account, and at the request (sometimes without waiting for it) bring glasses and a bucket with ice.

True, such a democratic practice does not concern the holding of banquets. If you are hosting a large-scale event with your alcohol, you will have to pay for the service at the set tariff.

In Moscow and St. Petersburg

For Russian restaurants, this practice was recently considered exotic, but from 2013 started to be introduced in all major and popular places. The first to charge such a fee were restaurants in fashionable hotels, and then the phenomenon began to spread more widely. Now you can face it more and more often, so you should know what the cork collection in Moscow restaurants is, for example.

So, in "Wasabi" closed factory bottles of wine, champagne and all kinds of strong alcohol are accepted for service. But low-alcoholic, cooked houses or drinks purchased at the restaurant are forbidden to bring to the restaurant. Prices vary from 150 to 400 rubles for each open bottle, depending on its volume and strength of alcohol. Often, your alcohol can be brought only if you order food from the menu for a certain amount.

In general, the restaurants of the two capitals do not always support the corkage fee system, since it is much more profitable to sell alcohol from own stocks. Exceptions are elite places, where visitors sometimes bring rare collection marks of wines and other alcohol.

A completely different situation when it comes to organizing weddings, corporate celebrations and other similar events. In this case, the restaurant is very beneficial to establish its own rules, because the law cork fee is not regulated.

The following fee systems are practiced:

• How many bottles are brought, as much must be bought in the institution;
• A certain amount of alcohol is bought in a local bar, after which it is possible to drink freely brought with you;
• With each brought (or only open) bottle is taken charge.

The price varies from 300 to 1000 rubles for wine and champagne and from 700 to 3000 rubles for strong alcohol.

In other cities

And what is cork in the restaurant far beyond St. Petersburg and Moscow? The essence of it is the same: money for the right to drink alcohol brought with you. This system is also practiced when organizing banquets in the restaurant hall. Naturally, the cost will be lower in comparison with the capital's institutions: the lower limit is 50 rubles per bottle, the upper limit is 300 rubles.

Tips on how to save money

If you can not find a place without fees "for a cork", you can think over a strategy for effective action.

1. Agree with the restaurant on mutually beneficial terms. Since there is no single, legally regulated price, one can calmly discuss this issue with the administration. The result of negotiations can be a certain price or agreement to buy a certain amount of alcohol in the restaurant in exchange for the opportunity to bring also their drinks.
2. Buy drinks in large bottles if the cork in this establishment is considered regardless of this parameter.
3. If the cork fee is still much higher than the cost of alcohol, which you plan to purchase for the holiday, then it makes sense to think about the advisability of drinking their drinks. Sometimes it can be more profitable and easier to order them in the restaurant.

Now you know what a cork collection is, how popular it is in Russia and abroad, in what forms is expressed and, most importantly, what is the price of this issue. And, ordering a banquet, you will already be shod in it and do not make a mistake.